Minnesota to travel to Wake Forest for 2014 ACC -Big Ten Challenge

Minnesota will play at Wake Forest in this year's ACC-Big Ten challenge, ESPN announced in a release on Thursday.

The meeting, set for Dec. 2 in Winston Salem, will mark the second time the teams have faced off in the challenge. The Demon Deacons won the initial matchup, in 2001, at home. The pair has met six times overall in a series that dates back 60 years, splitting the games, 3-3. They last played in the first round of the NIT in 2006, when Minnesota routed Wake Forest, 73-58, to advance.

Richard Pitino, who is in his second season as the Gophers' head coach, will face first-year coach Danny Manning. The Deacons went 6-12 last season, finishing in a three-way tie for 11th in the ACC under Jeff Bzdelik before the four-year coach resigned at the end of the year. The Gophers, meanwhile, finished seventh in the Big Ten with an 8-10 record and went on to win the NIT championship.

The game will be televised on either ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPNU. Times will be announced at a later date.

Minnesota has played Florida State -- first in Tallahassee, then in Minneapolis -- in the previous two challenges. The Gophers have gone 7-8 in the challenge overall.

2014 ACC - Big Ten Challenge schedule:

MONDAY, DEC. 1:
Nebraska at Florida State
Rutgers at Clemson

TUESDAY, DEC. 2:
Illinois at Miami
Minnesota at Wake Forest
NC State at Purdue
Ohio State at Louisville
Pittsburgh at Indiana
Syracuse at Michigan

WEDNESDAY, DEC. 3:
Duke at Wisconsin
Georgia Tech at Northwestern
Iowa at North Carolina
Michigan State at Notre Dame
Virginia at Maryland
Virginia Tech at Penn State

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Marcus Fuller joined the Star Tribune in 2016 after 11 years covering Gophers sports – and just about every other team and league in town -- for the St. Paul Pioneer Press. Before making the Twin Cities his home, Marcus spent two years in The Kansas City Star sports department. Marcus grew up in Hawaii and is a 2002 graduate of San Jose State. Follow Fuller on Twitter @Marcus_R_Fuller.